Oak Ridge Today

Former Supreme Court chief justice who once worked in Oak Ridge dies at 85

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Tom Beehan, Cornelia Clark, Gary Wade, Riley Anderson, and Sharon Lee

Pictured above at Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab and Kitchen in Oak Ridge on Thursday, July 31, 2014, are, from left to right, former Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Cornelia Clark, former Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Gary Wade, former Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Riley Anderson, and Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Edward Riley Anderson, a former Tennessee Supreme Court chief justice who once worked and volunteered in Oak Ridge, died Wednesday, July 4, after a long fight with cancer. He was 85.

Anderson was born in Chattanooga but moved to Knoxville as a child, according to his obituary. He graduated from Central High School and received his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Tennessee.

After law school, in 1958, Anderson became the first associate at the Oak Ridge law firm of Wilson & Joyce, according to the Tennessee State Courts website. Frank Wilson and Gene Joyce would have a major impact on his life, the state said in a news story posted online.

“I couldn’t have had two better mentors to go to,” Anderson said in that article. “I think it’s important to have that when you’re a young lawyer and you’re malleable. You’re going to be influenced by whoever you associate with. I couldn’t have been more fortunate in my choice of mentors.”

When Wilson left the firm after his appointment to the federal bench, Anderson became a managing partner, and the firm was renamed Joyce, Anderson, and Meredith, the state courts news story said. [Read more…]

Guest column: Tennessee retention elections explained by LWVTN

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

By League Issues: Making Democracy Work

On August 7, Tennesseans will vote in a statewide retention election for appellate judges. Included are three of the five Tennessee Supreme Court justices as well as judges currently sitting on the Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals.

The August 7 retention election represents the last such election under the much-respected Tennessee Plan—the 40-plus year plan for merit selection and retention of appellate judges. The plan was designed to reduce partisanship and outside influences in electing and retaining our appellate judges. The final phase of the plan—merit retention—expired June 30, 2014.

This year’s retention election is particularly important. Fair and impartial court supporters in our state—including Governor Haslam—are concerned about media reports that the three Supreme Court justices seeking retention in Tennessee might become the targets of heavily financed campaigns organized by groups outside the state. There have been reports of such campaigns targeting high court justices in several other states across our nation.

What does merit retention mean? [Read more…]